Job 9
1 Then Job replied,
Job replied,
2 “Yes, I certainly know that [much of] what you said is true. But (how can anyone say to God, ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it?’/no one can say to God ‘I (am innocent/have not done what is wrong) and prove it.’) [RHQ]
“Yes, I know all that! But how can anyone be right before God?
3 If someone wanted to argue with God [about that], God could ask him 1,000 questions, and that person would not be able to answer any of them!
If you wanted to argue with God, God could ask a thousand questions that no-one could answer.
4 God is very wise [IDM] and very powerful; no one who has tried to challenge God has been able to win.
God is so wise and so powerful that no-one could challenge him and win.
5 He even moves mountains, without them (OR, anyone) knowing about it. When he is angry, he turns them upside down.
God moves the mountains suddenly; he overturns them in his anger.
6 He sends earthquakes that shake the ground; he causes the pillars that support the earth to tremble.
He shakes the earth, making its foundations quake.
7 [Some days] he speaks to the sun, and it does not rise, and [some nights] he prevents the stars from shining.
He is the one who can command the sun not to rise and the stars not to shine.
8 He alone (stretched out/put in place) the sky; he alone puts his feet on the waves (OR, on the huge sea monster).
He alone is the one who stretches out the heavens and walks on the waves of the sea.
9 He put in their places [the clusters/groups of stars that are called] The Dipper/Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars in the southern sky.
He made the constellations of the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades, and the stars of the southern sky.
10 Only he does great things that we cannot understand; he does more marvelous things than we are able to count.
He is the one who does incredible things that are beyond our understanding, marvelous things that are uncountable.
11 He passes by where I am, but I do not see him; he moves further on, but I do not see him go.
But when he passes by me, I don't see him; when he moves on, he is invisible to me.
12 If he [wants to] snatch something away, no one [RHQ] can hinder him; no one dares to ask him, ‘Why are you doing that?’ [RHQ]
If he takes away, who can prevent him? Who is going to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
13 God will not very easily stop being angry; he defeated [MTY] those who [tried to] help Rahab, [the great sea monster].
God does not restrain his anger; he crushes Rahab's helpers underfoot.
14 “So, [if God took me to court], what could I say [MTY] to answer him?
So how much less could I answer God, or choose my words to argue with him!
15 Even though I (would be innocent/would not have done what is wrong), I would not be able to answer him. All I could do would be to request God, my judge/accuser, to act mercifully toward me.
Even though I'm right, I can't answer him. I must plead for mercy from my judge.
16 If I summoned him to [come to the courtroom] and he said that he would come, I would not believe that he would pay attention to what I would say.
Even if I called him to come and he responded, I don't believe he would listen to me.
17 He sends storms to batter me, and he bruises me many times (without any reason to do that/even though I am innocent).
He pounds me with the winds of a storm; he wounds me time and again, without giving a reason.
18 [It is as though] he will not let me get/catch my breath, because he causes me to suffer all the time.
He doesn't give me a chance even to catch my breath; instead he fills my life with bitter suffering.
19 If I would try to (wrestle with/fight against) him, [there is no way that I could defeat him, ] [because] he is stronger than I am. If I would request him to appear in court, there is no one who could [RHQ] force him to go there.
If it's a question of strength, then God is the strongest. If it's a question of justice, then who will set a time for my case?
20 Even though I was innocent, what I would say would cause him to say that I must be punished [MTY]; even though I had not done anything wrong, he would prove that I am guilty.
Even though I am right, my own mouth would condemn me; even though I am innocent, he would prove me wrong.
21 “I have not done what is wrong, but that is not important. I despise continuing to remain alive.
I am innocent! I don't care what happens to me. I hate my life!
22 But it doesn’t matter, because God will get rid of [all of us, ] both those who are innocent and those who are wicked.
That's why I say, ‘It makes no difference to God. He destroys both the innocent and the wicked.’
23 When people experience disaster and it causes them to suddenly die, God laughs at it, even if they are innocent.
When disaster strikes suddenly he mocks the despair of the innocent.
24 God has allowed wicked people to control [what happens in] the world. [It is as though] he has caused judges to be blindfolded, [with the result that they cannot judge fairly]. If it is not God who has put wicked people in control, who has done it?
The earth has been handed over to the wicked; he blinds the eyes of the judges—if it's not him who does this, then who is it?
25 “My days go by very quickly, like a fast runner; [it is as though] they run away, and nothing good happens to me on those days.
The days of my life race by like a runner, rushing past without me seeing any happiness.
26 My life goes by very rapidly, like a boat made from reeds sailing swiftly, or like an eagle that swoops down to seize a small animal.
They pass by like fast sailing ships, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.
27 If I smile and say [to God], ‘I will forget what I am complaining about; I will stop looking sad and try to be cheerful/happy,’
If I said to myself, ‘I will forget my complaints; I will stop crying and be happy,’
28 then I become afraid because of all that I am suffering, because I know that God does not consider that I am innocent.
I would still be terrified at all my suffering because you, God, will not say I'm innocent.
29 He will (condemn me/declare that I should be punished), so why should I keep trying in vain [to defend myself]?
Since I'm condemned, what's the point in arguing?
30 If I washed myself with snow or cleansed my hands with lye/soap [to get rid of my guilt],
Even if I wash myself with pure mountain water and clean my hands with soap,
31 he would still throw me into a filthy pit; as a result [it would be as though] even my clothes would detest me.
you would toss me into a slime pit so that even my own clothes would hate me!
32 “God is not a human, as I am, so there is no way that I could answer him [to prove that I am innocent] if we went together to have a trial [in a courtroom].
For God is not a mortal being like me, I can't defend myself or take him to court.
33 There is no one to (mediate/hear us and decide who is right), no one who has authority over both of us [IDM].
If only there was an arbitrator who could bring us both together!
34 I wish/desire that he would stop punishing [MTY] me, and that he would not continue to terrify me.
I wish God would stop beating me with his rod and terrifying me!
35 If he did that, I would declare [that I am innocent] without being afraid of him, because I know that I really have not [done what is wrong like God thinks that I have].”
Then I could speak up without being afraid—but since I am, I can't!”
